Clearly, Sandra Bullock is on top of the world following her critically-acclaimed performance in Gravity, the box office smash that just won seven Oscars.

Bullock now also ranks as Hollywood’s highest-paid actress, but that’s not the only list that the versatile actress now heads; in the latest IME Star Index™, Bullock rocketed to the top overall ranking on the list, which measures the direct response marketability of celebrities across a wide berth of advertising categories.

Bullock’s number one ranking was a result of scoring exceptionally well with the public across multiple attribute areas. Among all celebrities in the survey, she received the highest score in the Influence category, third in Likeability, and fourth in Trust.

Throughout her movie career, Bullock has portrayed admirable, sympathetic All-American heroines, and these performances have clearly enhanced her potential as a top-level brand endorser.

Other celebrities landing in the Top 35 in their initial survey appearance were Jennifer Lopez (5), Will Smith (7) Taylor Swift (19), Justin Timberlake (21) and Shaquille O’Neal (35).

InterMedia Entertainment™ is constantly expanding its celebrity list to accommodate the ever-changing direct response landscape. Rob Levy, President of InterMedia Entertainment, noted, “For this survey, we added a select group of celebrity talent that delivers some of the most robust audiences and engagement levels in social media channels.”

“We also enhanced the list to include the growing set of celebrities now active in the endorsement marketplace, both in direct marketing and brand advertising contexts. As the set of direct response marketers broadens, the list of talent willing to consider endorsing a direct-to-consumer product or service is also expanding,” Levy added.

Highly-popular DJ du jour David Guetta was added to the survey for his powerful presence in social media channels, but scored near the bottom of the survey. Guetta has a staggering 14.1 million Twitter followers, and stays highly engaged with his fans on this channel. However, this activity level did not translate to a strong showing in the Index as Guetta was not deemed particularly Trustworthy, Influential, or even Likeable, by the public.

Analyzing the Index scores of those spokespeople associated with long-running and successful direct marketing campaigns revealed a consistent trend of high performance in multiple attribute areas. Here is a breakdown of some current DR Spokespeople, their current overall survey rank, and their results within key attribute categories in the latest survey:

IME Star Index: Q1 2014

Celebrity

Product / Service

Overall Rank

Recognition Rank

Trust Rank

Influence Rank

Likeability Rank

Relevance Prank

Attractiveness Rank

Henry Winkler

One Reverse Mortgage

9

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 20%

Top 30%

Chuck Norris

Total Gym

13

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 20%

Top 10%

Top 50%

William Shatner

Priceline.com

17

Top 10%

Top 20%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Bottom 30%

Cindy Crawford

Meaningful Beauty

18

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 20%

Top 10%

Jack Hanna

Cosequin

98

Top 40%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 10%

Top 30%

Top 40%

Jessica Simpson

Weight Watchers

45

Top 10%

Top 20%

Top 20%

Bottom 20%

Top 10%

Top 10%

The over-riding trend among these top performers is their strength across multiple attribute categories, primarily a combination of high Trust and Influence scores. In most cases, these two factors outweigh Relevance and Recognition scores as key determinants for determining a successful DR spokesperson.

The IME Star Index was designed to capture and track rapidly-shifting public sentiment concerning celebrities in a media and celebrity obsessed society. InterMedia Entertainment conducts this primary consumer research on a quarterly basis to ensure that the index is reflective of current media trends and consumer attitudes.

InterMedia Entertainment provides its celebrity deal making services to a range of businesses, including new marketers, companies with existing campaigns in need of a renewed creative focus, and other advertising / marketing entities. In the recent past, InterMedia has executed campaigns with such leading sports and entertainment figures as Joey Fatone, Joan Lunden and Gabrielle Reece.

InterMedia Entertainment conducts extensive market research to determine the right celebrity for each client. The company works with industry-leading agents and managers to create optimal pairings.

CMOs/Marketing Executives May Request a Free Copy
Businesses are welcome to secure one free report featuring the top 100 top ranked celebrities by contacting Rob Levy at rlevy@intermediaentertainment.com. In depth analysis using the IME Star Index is part of the suite of services provided to InterMedia Advertising® clients.